23/11/2023 - Billie Blain, Zabou Breitman, Éric Ruf, Guillaume Gouix, Laïka Blanc-Francard and Floria Lesieur star in the filmmaker’s debut feature for Une Fille Productions

After six weeks of filming in September-October, Cassandre, the debut feature from Hélène Merlin, is now in post-production. Standing out in the cast are the young Billie Blain (who made a strong impression in The Animal Kingdom [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Thomas Cailley
film profile]), Zabou Breitman (nominated for the Best Supporting Actress César award in 1993 and 2012 for The Minister [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Pierre Schoeller
film profile], recently seen in All Because of the Cat), Éric Ruf (who plays Richelieu in the two The Three Musketeers [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] films), Guillaume Gouix (nominated for the 2012 César award for Most Promising Actor, seen in Cannes in Rosalie [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] and currently headlining the series Polar Park), Laïka Blanc-Francard (the series Reign Supreme [+see also:
series review
interview: Olivier Wotling
series profile]) and Florian Lesieur (the series Plus belle la vie).

Written by the director (within the screenwriting workshop at La Fémis) in collaboration with Clara Bourreau, the script is set in the countryside, during the summer of 1998. Cassandre is 14 years old. In the small family mansion, her parents and her elder brother mention that her body has changed. Thankfully, Cassandre is passionate about horse-riding and joins for the holidays a small equestrian centre where she gets adopted like a strange animal. There, she discovers another normality, one that gradually takes her outside of a stifling family unit...

Produced by Emma Javaux for Une Fille Productions with Claire Franzoni (Daylight Conseils) as associate producer, Cassandre is co-produced by France 2 Cinéma. Pre-bought by OCS, the feature film also benefits from the support of the Pays de la Loire region and the project was selected for the WScripted List by Mubi at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival and the 2019 Émergence residency. The direction of photography is handled by David Cailley (The Animal Kingdom). French distribution will be overseen by Zinc.

For the record, Une Fille Productions launched into feature filmmaking with The Gravity [+see also:
film review
film profile] by Cédric Ido (appreciated last year in Toronto, in the Platform competition) and launched the mini-series LT-21 last month on OCS.

(Translated from French)